The invention relates to a system and method for direct data exchange between two or more vehicles for transmission of data relating to events that interfere with driving safety, via a wireless communication, such as WLAN in particular, wherein unambiguous identification information is assigned to each vehicle.
With such known systems for so-called vehicle-to-vehicle communication of traffic-relevant messages from one vehicle assessing the situation to one or more neighboring or following vehicles, such as a warning message about slippery road conditions or an accident, the information about the identity of the vehicle detecting the traffic situation being reported is transmitted to the following vehicles.
The object of the invention is, in particular, to increase the acceptance for use of such a system.
This object is achieved through a system for direct data exchange between two or more vehicles for transmission of data relating to events having a negative effect on driving safety, via a wireless communication means, such as in particular WLAN, wherein unambiguous identification is assigned to each of the vehicles. The identification information about the respective vehicle is temporary and is formed on the basis of a current status of the vehicle. Advantageous further embodiments are described herein.
An important aspect of the present invention consists of the fact that according to the invention, the identification information about the respective vehicle is temporary and is formed on the basis of the current status of the vehicle.
Through the inventive further embodiment of the invention, the anonymity of each of the vehicles is preserved, and nevertheless they can be differentiated in that unambiguous identification information is assigned to each of them.
In one embodiment of the invention, the current status of the vehicle is determined by the position of the vehicle based on GPS information, by the mileage reading of the vehicle, and/or the direction of travel of the vehicle. In the case of a vehicle equipped with a GPS navigation system, this information is readily available on the databus of the vehicle for use by the inventive system without any great effort and can be utilized for individualizing the respective vehicle.
It is self-evident that other data describing the current status of the vehicle, at least in part, may be used to form the identification information about the respective vehicle.
In one embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the current time is used to form the identification information. In this way, it is immediately discernible how current the identification information is.
In a further embodiment of the invention, the formation of the identification information about the respective vehicle on the basis of the current status of the vehicle is repeated periodically or after a predetermined distance has been traveled. The risk of manipulation of the data exchange can be greatly reduced through these measures.
In one embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the identification information is obtained by applying a so-called “hash” function to the current status and/or to the corresponding state vectors to describe the current status such as the vehicle position, its mileage reading, or the direction of travel of the vehicle. This ensures that the identification information is practically always unambiguous.
In a further embodiment of the invention, it is provided that a device for checking the plausibility of the identification information transmitted by another vehicle is provided in each of the vehicles. Such a device additionally reduces the risk of manipulation of the data exchange.
In one embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the vehicles exchanging data directly with one another also exchange cryptographic keys before the start of the data exchange. The keys thereby exchanged are used for encryption of the data exchanged subsequently and/or the identification information exchanged. This is also a suitable measure for preventing manipulation of the inventive system.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of one or more preferred embodiments when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.